Oakland residents express concerns about bringing strollers on buses

On Wednesday, members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and some Oakland residents gathered at 14th Street and Broadway to protest a rumored ban against strollers on AC Transit buses. About 20 protestors marched down nearby Franklin Street chanting, “One struggle, one fight, we need our buses, it’s our right!” Some pushed their strollers with children in them towards AC Transit’s downtown office to voice their concerns on behalf of passengers who use strollers, and bus drivers who don’t make the proper accommodations for them.

But according to AC Transit spokesperson Clarence Johnson, the agency is not considering a ban on strollers. “We don’t have any intention of banning any wheelchairs, grocery carts or strollers from the bus. Our policy is to let anyone who needs the bus ride the bus,” said Johnson in a phone interview on Wednesday.

The protest was called after Oakland resident Alia Phelps, who is an organizer with ACCE, said she heard from a colleague that during a recent AC Transit board meeting, a board member brought up the topic of people with strollers taking longer to board the bus and delaying buses. (AC Transit Board of Directors vice president Joe Wallace said he had no knowledge of such a comment, and Johnson also could not identify who might have said it.) Phelps said she feared AC Transit would review its current stroller rule and ban strollers from buses altogether.